When we talk about ‘English’, we often think of it as a single language. But what do the dialects spoken in dozens of countries around the world have in common with each other, or with the writings of Chaucer? Claire Bowern traces the language from the present day back to its ancient roots, showing how English has evolved through generations of speakers.

English has obviously changed much over the years, but this video (and lesson) also shows some good language family information and traces it back to proto-Indo-European, using the English as the main example. This other TED-ED video (and lesson) shows how the connotations of English words often times depend on the linguistic root (sweat--Germanic, perspire--Latin).

At the core of Catalonia’s separatist movement is an argument that a country’s better-off regions shouldn’t have to pay to cover their less productive counterparts.

As a relatively rich region with its own independence movement, Catalonia's not alone: A small set of secession movements in historically productive areas, most visibly in Europe, say they’d be better off on their own, and more are pointing to Catalonia's example to regain momentum.

The common wisdom used to be that separatist movements mostly came from weak minorities that rallied around racial or ethnic injustices. “With globalization, that changed significantly,” said Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, a professor of economic geography at the London School of Economics (LSE). “Virtually everywhere in the world,” movements have swapped out the “identity card” for the “economic card.”

Inequality between regions is baked into the entire concept of modern nationhood—if subsidizing poorer parts of a country were motivation enough to split off, every region would have done it by now. Plus, there are economic perks to staying together: Trade is easier across internal borders, and diversified regions diffuse risk.

In Spain, citizens of Catalonia are seeking secession from Spain for economic purposes. The citizen's of Catalonia are wealthier than most of the rest of the country. Catalonia pays $12 billion more in taxes a year to Madrid than they receive back from Madrid. This seems like a great idea for the citizens of Catalonia because it would help increase their economy in a positive way, but this could have a negative effect on the rest of the country's economy as far as trade goes. Also, this article points out that if secession because of economic differences in regions of a country made enough sense and were easy to do, countries would be doing more all throughout history. From what I can it see, even though Catalonia pays more in taxes every year to Madrid, it would make sense for the nation as a whole for Catalonia not to secede, because if it did it would hurt the economy of the majority of the nation.

This article is focused on Catalonia and its hopes for secession from Spain. Catalonia wants to secede because it pays in much more than it receives from the government. Catalonia is the wealthiest part of Spain with the exception of Madrid, and they feel as if they are paying to support the poorer regions of Spain, who they believe do not work as hard. The article also references other countries where wealth is unevenly distributed and how this can cause regions to want secession, it also outlines things that would need to happen for secession to be possible, for example another country offering military protection. In the case of Catalonia if they were to secede, what is left of Spain could plummet, they would lose 20% of their GDP overnight, which could cause massive problems for the country. Spain needs to begin preparing for if a Catalonian secession does in fact happen.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic share a border, and an island. But the two countries are very different today: the Dominican Republic enjoys higher quality of life for many factors than Haiti. I went to this island and visited both countries, to try and understand when and how their paths diverged.

This video is extremely interesting seeing as it points out the differences between two very different worlds that are only separated by a single border. The video shows how racist the Dominicans are to their neighbors and shows us how the Haitians live under such scrutiny. On each end of the border, there are two markets that are supposed to allow both the Haitians and the Dominicans to trade their goods, however, the strict border patrol officers keep the Haitians from entering until their neighbors have set up their shops at the best spots. The director of the video also notes that he believes the reason Haiti is much poorer than the Dominican Republic stems all the way back to when they were colonies of France and Spain.

I found this video to be very insightful into the relationship Haiti has with the Dominican Republic and how the Haitian government has formed into what it is today. It was especially informative for myself because I didn't know very much about these countries before watching this video. I knew Haiti was the first slave colony to have a successful revolt against their slave holders, but I didn't know or realize all the consequences of that slave uprising. It seems like Haiti wasn't given a proper chance right off the bat to succeed as a nation. The French overworked their land and destroyed the soil which is still a problem today. Once Haiti declared independence, many nations enforced embargoes on Haiti because it was considered a threat due to it being a black republic, which strangled their potential for a strong economy. Adding to that France demanded a large sum of money from Haiti after they declared independence because France was upset about losing profits from the colony, which hindered the Haitian economy even more. It's too bad that Haiti got a bad hand of cards right from the beginning, I hope that one day they can rise above adversity, and truly flourish as a nation.

watching this showed many disturbing facts about the island shared by the D.R. and Haiti. because of both of their previous owners the island went in two different directions. Haiti owned by the French brought over many slaves to pillage and exploit their side of the Island. Haiti could not flourish because of racism and debt. D.R. had a different history the Spaniards integrated with the locals and worked together to help the country grow. they took care of their land and their was no racism playing any role in destroying the people of that country. driving up and down the you can see the difference on both sides. Haiti has a bare and eroded land while the D.R. has lush jungles. according to the narrator there is strong racism towards the Haitians by the Dominicans. Even thou they both share the island the Dominicans look down on the Haitians and refuse to help them even thou D.R. is a so to speak rich nation they could really help improve and grow both nations as a whole. Its sad to see that the reason people cant grow is because of systemic and blatant racism.

Seth Dixon's insight: While many countries have anti-natalist policies (policies to discourage more births), other countries with declining populations have pro-natalist policies in an attempt to increase fertility rates. While not an exhaustive list, this list gives a few more examples that teachers can use to show how countries in stage 4 of the demographic transition are dealing with declining fertility rates. Denmark Russia Japan Romania Singapore South Korea India (Parsis community) Italy Hong Kong Spain

While many countries have anti-natalist policies (policies to discourage more births), other countries with declining populations have pro-natalist policies in an attempt to increase fertility rates. While not an exhaustive list, this list gives a few more examples that teachers can use to show how countries in stage 4 of the demographic transition are dealing with declining fertility rates.

The population changes in Europe recently seem to be related to both low birth rates and an increase in migration. Based on this map the most significant patterns seem to be that areas in south Eastern Europe are experiencing great population lows while France and Ireland’s populations are making significant gains. This trend could most likely be explained by migration. People in the regions of great population loss are most likely moving northwest in order to fill the many vacancies in Western Europe. The reason that these vacancies exist is because the population of Europe overall is aging, so there are many spots open from retirees. At the same time, the birth rates in most of Europe are so low it is causing the overall population of the continent to gradually decrease. Without domestic workers to fill positions, companies in areas with low birth rates, like France and Spain, are forced to hire foreign employees. The population loss in the eastern part of Europe seems to be due to migration. Whereas on farther west, the regions with high population losses, such as Spain, Denmark, and southern Italy, can be explained by low birth rates. The increased tension recently regarding immigration policies and Great Britain’s exit from the European Union can be explained by these trends. As people with different ethnic backgrounds who do not speak the languages of the countries they migrate to continue to enter countries in large numbers, many Europeans begin to feel threatened. This is why there are protests and the rise of political parties who run on anti-immigrant platforms.

Between 2001 and 2011 there has been serious demographic changes occurring all over Europe. The eastern section has seen a lot of suburbanization since the end of the Communist era and the early period of capitalism. There was once a lack of cash and depleating economy but now cities finally have the capital and chance to to build one family homes which allowed for the 2% growth. As for northwestern regions, the population has decreased as impoverished regions in the southwest draw in retiring or downsizing Europeans instead, as they want the sunshine and cheaper prices on things. This article shows how geography can truly shape the rise and fall of demographic in a country.

This article looks at Europe’ s changing population. Although many cities, like Prague and Bucharest have been experiencing a 1-2% population increase, other countries, such as countries in the east and northwest, have had a 1-2% decrease in population. Similarly, Turkey has a declining population as well. The author of this article argues that this steady decline is occurring because the citizens are leaving the rural countryside to find more job opportunities in the cities.

This post will need many disclaimers, but I think that it is a valuable addition to our gentrification materials since the key take-home point is that gentrification doesn’t happen the same way in all places (geographic context matters!). Some of the generalizations about gentrification around the country might not apply to some specific examples. Are these generalizations true in some (and possibly most) contexts? Sure, but unfortunately once people hear the word gentrification, they assume a base set of assumptions about the situation which may or may not be true. The 5 myths outlined in this video (more detail in this Washington Post article) are:

This post will need many disclaimers, but I think that it is a valuable addition to our gentrification materials since the key take-home point is that gentrification doesn’t happen the same way in all places (geographic context matters!). Some of the generalizations about gentrification around the country might not apply to some specific examples. Are these generalizations true in some (and possibly most) contexts? Sure, but unfortunately once people hear the word gentrification, they assume a base set of assumptions about the situation which may or may not be true. The 5 myths outlined in this video (more detail in this Washington Post article) are:

Henderson Island is isolated and uninhabited—but its beaches are still covered in garbage.

Henderson Island (article or podcast) is about the most remote place you can visit without leaving the planet. It sits squarely in the middle of the South Pacific, 3,500 miles from New Zealand in one direction and another 3,500 miles from South America in the other. Henderson should be pristine. It is uninhabited. Tourists don’t go there. There’s no one around to drop any litter. The whole place was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1988. The nearest settlement is 71 miles away, and has just 40 people on it. And yet, seafaring plastic has turned it into yet another of humanity’s scrapheaps.

If I had looked at this picture without the context, I would think it was somewhere where people had stayed for a while and then left the place trashed with their own garbage. In reality, this is an island that is 3500 miles away from the nearest major settlement and doesn’t have any human inhabitants. This really exemplifies that even though plastic waste may not be in one’s backyard, it never truly goes away. Plastic is a material that cannot be broken down, so when it is dumped it just moves around until it hits land. The article pointed out that plastic is incredibly difficult to clean up, particularly on places like Henderson Island. When it floats in the ocean for a long time, it becomes brittle and breaks into very small fragments. Those small fragments then mix with the sand and get buried, making it impossible to get rid of. Another fact about this island that was shocking is that 3,750 pieces of litter wash up everyday, which is 100,000 times than other islands. Henderson Island is not suitable for humans to live on, as there is no freshwater, frequent storms, and incredibly sharp terrain. It is interesting that an island that keeps humans away can’t defend itself against plastic. The reach of humans extends far beyond what they imagine and even uninhabitable land is infested with human waste. No matter how remote a place is, it will still be effected by people.

Lots of countries show off their public-housing projects, but few are quite as devoted to them as Singapore, where four-fifths of the permanent population live in subsidised units built by the government, most of them as owner-occupiers. The city-state’s suburbs bristle with HDB towers, painted calming pastel hues. This vast national housing system surprises visitors who think of Singapore as a low-tax hub for expatriate bankers and big multinationals. But HDB is a linchpin of economic and social policy and an anchor for the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), which has led Singapore since independence. It is also a tantalising but tricky model for Singapore’s fast-urbanising neighbours to follow.

Singapore is such a fascinating case study. Over 90% of the Singapore’s land is owned by the government and the American ideal of independent home ownership is seen as antithetical to cultural norms. The government heavily subsidies young couples to live near their parents and create tight-knit communities with homelessness was eradicated (that’s the optimists’ perspective). This is all well and good for young, straight couples that choose to support the ruling political party, but critics often point out that the housing focus has also created a paternalistic component to the government that is much stronger in Singapore than in other countries. This article nicely goes with the 2017 APHG reading professional development talk entitled “The Geographies of Home” that focused on Singaporean and Japanese examples.

As a young Singaporean, I am really proud of such an unique architecture that is representable of Singapore. These flats, or what we call HDB, provides us with many Singaporeans with a roof over their head despite land scarcity in Singapore. Some HDB flats has a sky garden while majority of the others has a gathering area on the ground floor to provide an opportunity to mingle with our neighbours. It is truly a Singaporean memory to be living in a HDB flat.

The inland waterways were absolutely critical to the demographic and economic development of the eastern part of the United States, especially from 1820-1940. Before World War II, Great Lakes shipping exceeded the tonnage of U.S. Pacific Coast shipping (see hi-res map here). World War II and the beginning of the Cold War led to a consolidation of naval power for the United States and its allies, greatly expanding Pacific shipping trade and spurring fast-developing economies countries.

Great Lakes shipping dramatically declined, in part because steel production has gone to lower-cost producers that were connected to the U.S. economy through the expanded trade. Some could see irony since the steel warships created from the Great Lakes manufacturing enabled expanded Pacific and Atlantic trade that led to the decline of Great Lakes manufacturing and regional struggles in the rust belt. Still, more than 200 million tons of cargo, mostly iron ore, coal, and grain, travel across the Great Lakes annually.

The authors of a new book, Hungry Planet, set out to see how families in 24 regions feed themselves each week. They wanted to see how globalization, migration and other factors affected the diets of communities around the world.

When you woke up this morning, were you in a house, an apartment, or a condo? Look around you. What kinds of buildings do you see? Skyscrapers, mid-rise office parks, strip malls, tracts of suburban homes, fields or water? When you went to work, did you drive, bike, take a train, or walk? When you go to buy food, how far do you go, and how do you get there? Where do you go to get a drink?

Historically, the top ten most powerful passports in the world were mostly European, with Germany having the lead for the past two years. Since early 2017, Singapore has tied for number one position with Germany. For the first time ever an Asian country has the most powerful passport in the world. It is a testament of Singapore's inclusive diplomatic relations and effective foreign policy."

Singapore's willingness to work with as many countries as possible to bolster their economic growth has creates a unique situation where their passport is now the most powerful passport in the world. It shows that by having the willingness to globalize their business dealings and garner as many trade allies as possible, the nation can benefit in secondary ways, like having the passport with the fewest visa requirements of any passport in the world.

Travel is a leisure that has time constraints for most people. Being able to just up and go is a great luxury. So for Singapore to have the best passport is great. This allows the traveler to go from country to country without obtaining visa and its lengthy process of waiting and or just to get a quick visa from certain countries. The more countries that trust the visiting passport background checks the more passes one can visit.

(Southeast Asia) I never thought about passports having different restrictions for different countries, let alone that it could be a measure of a country's power and greatness. Formerly tied with Germany, Singapore managed to scrape off another visa requirement from Paraguay, bringing Singapore's visa-free score to 159. The city-state, a major global commerce center, has become the first Asian nation to have the most useful passport. Visa-free requirements reflect a country's ability to negotiate foreign relations. While the country is poor in land size and resources, Singapore excels in their economy and statecraft.

"One of my stores, we had 300 employees; 140 of them were displaced by the flooding. So how do you put your store back together quickly? We asked for volunteers in the rest of the company. We brought over 2,000 partners from Austin, San Antonio, the Rio Grande Valley. They hopped into cars and they just drove to Houston. They said, we're here to help. For 18 hours a day, they’re going to help us restock and then they'll go sleep on the couch at somebody's house."

Natural disasters complicate the logistics that make our modern economy run. We take these flows for granted--until they are disrupted. This article is a excellent view into how to operate when disaster strikes.

Natural disasters complicate the logistics that make our modern economy run. We take these flows for granted--until they are disrupted. This article is a excellent view into how to operate when disaster strikes.

"In the 2016 edition of its World Development Indicators, the World Bank has made a big choice: It’s no longer distinguishing between 'developed' countries and “developing” ones in the presentation of its data. The change marks an evolution in thinking about the geographic distribution of poverty and prosperity. But it sounds less radical when you consider that nobody has ever agreed on a definition for these terms in the first place. The International Monetary Fund says its own distinction between advanced and emerging market economies “is not based on strict criteria, economic or otherwise.” The United Nations doesn’t have an official definition of a developing country, despite slapping the label on 159 nations. And the World Bank itself had previously simply lumped countries in the bottom two-thirds of gross national income (GNI) into the category, but even that comparatively strict cut-off wasn’t very useful."

Labels and categories are so often problematic, but they are also necessary to make sense of the vast amount of information. Regional geography is inherently about lumping places together that have commonalities, but acknowledging that many differences from place to place makes the world infinitely varied and complex. Since we can’t process an infinite amount of complexity, we categorize, for better or for worse. In education, we are continually trying to show how some categorizations fail, hoping that our students will categorize the information they receive in better ways (non-racist ways for example). The regional terms we use--Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, etc.—impacts how we think about the world. Each of those terms highlights a few similarities and ignores some important differences. The terms More Developed Countries (MDCs), Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs), and Less Developed (LDCs) is how many people have socioeconomically categorized the world’s countries, some preferring developing countries instead of LDCs because it less stigmatizing. In 2015, many at the World Bank have thought that the term “Developing Countries” obscures more than it reveals. In 2016, the World Bank removed the term from its database since there are more differences than similarities in the economic structures and trajectories of developing countries.

Questions to Ponder: What are some of the major problems that you see with the term developing country? Even with its problems, what utility is there in the term? Will you keep using the term or will you abandon it? How come?

I agree that it is important to categorize in order to learn and group things together. I understand some of the implications but it is nonetheless important to the way we learn about other areas. To do away with all labels of this kind will not make the topic and world view more inclusive, but instead make things so complicated that people will either not understand it or not bother with it's complexities. Things need to be distinguished between qualities and traits in order for proper analysis.

"In 1992, the Baltimore Orioles opened their baseball season at a brand new stadium called Oriole Park at Camden Yards, right along the downtown harbor. The stadium was small and intimate, built with brick and iron trusses—a throwback to the classic ballparks from the early 20th century. It was popular right from the start.

These new Populous ballparks are small and old fashioned-looking but they also feature modern amenities—comfortable seats and fancy foods. And while designed to be different, they tend to follow a similar aesthetic format, featuring a lot red brick and green-painted iron. These new parks also feature asymmetrical playing fields, which are in many cases dictated by the surrounding cityscape."

This podcast is filled with important urban geographic issues: downtown revitalization, landscape aesthetics, sense of place, planning, public/private revitalization, etc. And to boot, this podcast uses America's pasttime to discuss these topics. I typically really enjoy the thoughtful exploration of the untold stories that make up our world found in the 99 Percent Invisible podcast.

"The Jordanian parliament voted on Tuesday to abolish a provision in the penal code that allows rapists to escape punishment if they marry their victims - a move that is being hailed as 'historic' by activists and locals. Article 308 permit[ed] pardoning rape perpetrators if they marry their victims and stay with them for at least three years. The controversial provision has for decades divided Jordan between those who believe the law is necessary to protect women's 'honour', and others who see it as a violation of basic human rights."

It's amazing how these laws can even exist in today's global society. The law itself is a violation of human rights by making someone who is harmed to before attached to the person that harmed them. It's also shocking some of the countries that have abolished similar laws only within the last 30 years. Countries like Italy, Romania, France, and Peru to name a few. This is not just a continuing issue in the middle east but also in areas in Latin America and in Asia. Hopefully, countries will follow suit, which will take a major change in culture and thought. It will also take a major amount of energy from the people in those countries to change these laws.

The original reason that this law was put into practice was the most interesting part of the article. The law stated that men who raped women would not be punished if they married their victim. It was said that the law protected women from the stigma surrounding rape, especially if they became pregnant. It’s hard to tell if lawmakers were genuinely concerned with women’s well-beings or if they were just looking for a way to prevent men from being punished and just disguising it as beneficial to women. The law was in place for about 60 years and was approved to repeal by a very slim majority. This is a step in making Jordan a more progressive country that respects human rights, however they are still far from having gender equality. It was upsetting to me that I had never heard of this law before it was introduced to me in class because it shows that the U.S. and media don’t pay attention to such violations of human rights. It was also crazy to me that it took until 2017 for the law to be repealed, but even more shocking that it was put into place just 60 years ago. If I didn’t know the history of it, I would have assumed it was some ancient law.

The upcoming solar eclipse is poised to become the “most photographed, most shared, most tweeted event in human history,” in the words of one astronomer. Millions of people will watch it, potentially overwhelming the cities and towns along the eclipse's path of totality.

According to Google, interest in the eclipse has exploded nationwide in the past few months, mirroring national media attention. The county-level search data above, provided by Google, paints a striking picture: Interest in the eclipse is concentrated in the path of totality that cuts through the middle of the country, receding sharply the farther you go from that path.

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.